Wszystkie Mazurki Swiata 2020 (Photographie Jan Piszczatowski)

Occitania – Sieradz. A journey in three.

When we look at the map it’s hard not to consider the distance between Occitania in southern France and Sieradz region in Central Poland, but when we focus on the sound of music that have survived in the tradition of these two pleces the distance seems much shorter than 2,000 kilometers.
The very first encounter of those two musical traditions at La Fête des Violons Populaires festival manifested striking similarity between bourrée trois temps and owijoki. These melodies, although danced in a different manner, share the same pulsation. Further music making, talks, exploring and analysing the archives have led to subsequent discoveries of similarities in the structure and musical scale. The result was a joint music venture called Trancexpress back in 2018. As it turns out, we have found in our mutual traditions a common rhythm and can speak the same musical language albeit with slightly different accents.
When Józef Tomczyk, a violinist from Mroczki Małe, first heard the bourrée in three he reportedly said: “Those Frenchmen can play pretty nice owijoki”.
At the concert we will have the opportunity to hear the music from both regions. Józef Tomczyk’s Band and Przoki band will play Sieradz tunes. Pelós Baug is going to present occitanian bourrées. We will also hear violinist Jean-Marc Delaunay.
The key part of the concert will be Trancexpress – a testament to the mysterious closeness of two different musical cultures.

Trancexpress is a music project created from two living traditions: the French bourrée and Polish oberek. The triple time, once omnipresent in traditional music of many European regions, has now been overtaken by double time in pop music and gives off an old school vibe. There are however people who still preserve the old. Such musicians from France and Poland have found with a common rhythm and realized they can speak the same language with different accents. The main objective of this intercultural fusion is creative dance music and reviving the community of traditional musicians. Trancexpress is faithful to the style and crudeness of folk music and combines two geographically remote musical traditions.

Joanna Szaflik – vocals, basy
Sam Bouchet – vocals, sabot
Dominika Oczepa – fiddle
Maria Stepien – fiddle
Jean-Marc Delaunay – fiddle, feet
Nicolas Roche – fiddle, vocals
Dani Detammaecker – harmonica, vocals, tuntun